Improvement in steam geneeatoks



. 3 Sheets-Sheet 1. R. J. NUNN'.l STEAM GENERE-TUR.

No. 64,355'. Patented Apr. so, 1867.

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3 Sheets-Sheet; 2.

R. J. NUNN. STEAM GENERATOR.

No. 64,355. y Patented Apr. 30, 1867.

3 Sheets- Sheet 3.

R. J. NUNN;v STEAM GENERATOR.

NoL 64,355. Patented Apr. 30, 1867.

@uiten gratte etrnt @frs IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM GBNERATORS.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, RICHARD J. NUNN, of Savannah, in the county ofChatham, and State of- Georgia, have linvented a new and usefulImprovement in Steam Generators; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

The object' ofmy invention is to furnish a steam Aboiler, `(orgenerator,) which shall combine the essential requisites of compactness,strength, and safety Vto a greater .degree than any other steam boilerin usc, and which, while it shall be more economical as regards theWeight ofinaterielA used in its construction, and the quantity of fuelrequired for a given amount 'of steam, shall furnish a much greaterextent of steam-generating surface in proportion to its weight anddimensions; and the invention consists in constructing the boilerentirely of tubes of such dimensions and calibrethat the danger fromexplosion shall bo diminished at least fourfold whenl compared with theordinary boilers Anow in use ;A and in arranging and combining the tubesin such a manner that I can stop of or remove a defective tube with verylittle difticulty or delay, maintaining, at the same time, perfectcirculation of the water, and but slightly interfering with theefficiencyl of the boiler.

To enable Others-skilled in the art to. make and use my invention, Iwill now proeed'to describe its construction and operatiomreferencevbeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthisspecification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

Figure 1 represents a front elevation.

Figure 2, a plan or top view.

Figure 3, sheet is a. vertical section through the line :ca: vof' iig.1.

Figure 4 is a horizontal section'through fig. 1 at Figure 5, sheet 3, isa side elevation partly sectional..

Figure 6 is a small front view of the arch plate of the boiler..

Similar letters of Areference indicate like parte in the drawing.

'The t'ubes of which my boiler iscomposed are all either vertical orhorizontal in thls example of my invention, but they may be placed atany angle, as'may be desired. The horiz/ontal tubesv lie-both in alongitudinal and transverse position. The longitudinal tubes, (three oneach side, are placed one above the other on the outside of the boiler.The transverse tubes run through the boiler, and are invisible with theexception of those at the ends and ou the top,:as seen in the drawing. Iconstruct my boiler of a series or succession of bents or slabs, eachslab having la given number of vertical and horizontal` tubes, thevertical tubes standing in a row, and the horizontal tubes lying atgiven intervals one over the other, and each bent or slab consisting ofbut one row, or the thickness of one tube. In the drawingA the slab isrepresented as consisting of eight vertical and three horizontal tubes.It would, perhaps, be more pro-per to say that each slab is composed ofsixteen vertical tubes', for one of the horizontal tubes cuts the rowland vsepar'atesfthe vertical tubes, leaving eight`long tubes and eightshort ones. The upper horizontal tubes may be'called the steam tube. Thenext horizontal tube below is theloW-water tube, and the next below;4 orat the bottom. is the cold-water tube, excepting where it forms' the topof the tire-chamber or furnace.

I will now commence at tho front end ofl the boiler, g. 1, and describeone of these slabs more particularly.. The one in view is the irst of aseries of'slabs which form the lire-box or furnace.

A represents/thc two outside or right and left-hand vertical tubes; A',the lower row of vertical tubes between the outside ones, and arepresents -the upper rowfof vertical tubes. B represents the upperhorizontal or steam tube; B Athe low-Water tube, and b the lowerhorizontaltube forming the top of the fire-chamber or furnace as farbackas the furnaoecxtends. The steam' tube B extends out over the right andleft-hand vertical tubes, and each end terminates witha lange,c.' Thereis a cock, D, at each end between the flange and the vertical tubes. Italso has another' cock, D', near'its left-hand cud. The low-water tube Bhas the same flanges at EE, .and cocks F, between the llainges and thevertical tubes. A'lhe upper tier a of vertical tubes is connected withthese horizontal tubes, and the tier below, including the right andleft-hand vertical tubes, is connected with the tube B. at its underside, and all stand in line with those above. The tube b, as well as thecold-water or lower tube of the other slabs which lie beyondthefu'rnace, terminates in the right and left-hand vertical tubes A A.These vcrtic'el tubes AA are closed at the bottom ends, but near 'theirlower ends short horizontal tubes II are attached, which terminate inflanges h, and have each a cock, h', between the flange and the verticaltube. The shaded tubes, seen in the drawing, represent the back end ofthe furnace. -The vertical tubes being cut or separated bythe low-watertube B', and the separated portion being represented in two rows ortiers. occupying positions directly Vover each other, they form for allpractical purposes but one tier, or eight tubes', as regards theirinterior portion, and I avail myself of this arrangement by introducingtubes of much smaller diameter, which' stand in the axial centres ofcach vertical tube. I designate these tubes circulation tubes. The topond oli cacb passesthrough the steam tube B, and is closed and securedin its proper position by screws whose heads bear upon the top of thesteam tube. These screws are represented by z' in the drawing. One ofthese circulation tubes passeshdown through the closed ends of each ofthe vertical right and left-hand tubes of each slab forming thetire-chamber or furnace, and terminates in a cock, G. The -lower ends ofthe rest o'f these tubes pass through the top of the horizontal tube Il,and terminate in closed pointed ends, as seen in` the drawing` iig. 3,sheetQ. These circulation tubes are perforated with holes, the holescommencing about half way between the steam lcube B and the low-watertube B', and continue to the bottom of the tube B'. In the right .and.left-hand tubes the holesvthrough thelower ends of these circulationtubes commence at the bottom of the flue and continue to the' en'd ofthe tubes which erfclose them. In the six other vertical tubes of theslabs forming the fnrnac'e the perfor-ations commence at the top of thehorizontal tubes b and continue to their ends. The circulation tubes, inthe vertical tubes ot the slabs back of the furnace, pass entiifelythrough the lower horizontal tubes, and are secured by screws, andterminate in cocks the same as those in the outside right and lefttubes, the lower holes commencing at thc-.bottom of the iiue andcontinuing to their ends. The slabs, which form that portion of theboiler back of thc furnace, are constructed in the same manner, only thetube b, which here forms thc top of the furnace, is dropped down in theslabs which stand beyond, and is situated at the bott-om of the boiler,and is there the cold-water or supply tube, lying on a level withotheroutside horizontal tubes, to be described hereafter, which are alsocold-water or supply tubes. The flanges upon the ends of the steam andlow-water tubes. B and B', are for the purpose of attaching those tubesto other horizontal tubes, which extend longitudinally on each side ofthe boiler. There are three of these tubes on each side, correspondingin height with the .steam and low-water tubes, and also with the-sl1orttubesH, which are attached `to the right and left-hand vertical'tubes..I will here add that those short tubes H have checkvalves communicatingwith the longitudinal tubes, and seen at n, fig. 4. These longitudinaltubes are indicated in the drawing by the letters K L M. Their ends areclosed, and terminate in vflanges f. Upon the side of each are shorttubes G', corresponding in number and position with the number 'andposition of the flanges on the slabs. Each Aof these short tubesterminates with a flange, and each has a cockbetween the flange and themain tube. These ilanges .are marked c and the cocks e in the drawing.These flanges correspond in number and position with' the flangesattached to the slabs, as before stated. The intention, of course, is toconnect them together, and by Aso doing connect the whole system oftubes in the boiler, thus' allowing the water to circulate through everyportion of the water-space, and the steamto occupy the steam-spaec. Theupper longitudinal tubes KK, being but a continuation of the steam-spacein the upper tube B of the slabs, a. portion of the vcrtical tubes isdesigned also to' be-steam-space, that portion being about half thespace between the steam and low-water tubes B and B7. V

It is obvious that by disconnecting the flanges'ot any one slab, theslab can be removed from the boiler. In that case the cocks e would beclosed, thus shutting the slab off from thevrcst of the boiler. When thesla'b is removed, the boiler is again ready for use, and after only afew minutes detention, ifany. Should a slab leak, and it is not deemedadvisable to remove it, the cocks D, F, and It would be closed, whichwould shut-it off from the rest of the boiler. -Iu this case the workingof the boiler would not be interrupted at all, the cock D1 being openedto prevent overpressure in that slab. To increase the size and capacityof the'boiler, it is only necessary to increase the length of thelongitudinal tubesK L M, and add more slabs. The small interiorcirulation tubes perform another duty besides aiding the circulation.'lhcy act as bolts to bind the slabs together, being secured, as theyare, at top and bottom by screwsr At the bottom, the end passes through'a 'screw-nut before the cock is attached.

My system of tubes is now complete. The steam-space and the low-waterspace are both surrounded with horizontal tubes, andthe cold-water orsupply tubes also surround the boiler, with the exception of the front.Each set of horizontal tubes is in free communication with the others,as well as with all the vertical tubes in the boiler. As the verticaltubes do not stand so as to touch each other, it is necessary to fill upthe spaces between the outside right and left-hand tubes, and of all thespacesiu the tier oi tubes which surround the boiler in order toform aperfect ue. The whole interior steam-space, or the vspace between thelow-water tube B' and the steam tubo B, is also filled withnon-combustible material to protect the surfaces of the tubes from thedirect action of the re. The right and left-hand tubes are likewiseprotected 'from the action of the fire. The cold-water or supply tubesof all tl'ic.slabs back oi the furnace are protected in like manner, buthere the non-combustible material forms the bottom of the flue. In thedrawings, I have shown. Solid metal plates as filling the spaces betweenthe vertical tubes, and as also protecting the steam-space of theboiler. These plates also form the bottom of the flue. Two of thesemetallic plates (the front and the back ones) have" arms or brackets,extending out from the outside vertical tubes, which brackets are madeto support the three longitu dinal tubes on each side of the boiler.There may be more or less of these brackets, as may be deemed necessary.Neither is it considered very important that there should be as manycocks in the horizontal tubes as is represented. Such as may be foundInunecessaryin actual .service of the boiler may be dispensed with. Thefront or arch plate of the boiler is represented in fig. G, showing thebrackets and the ends of the longitudinal tubes, andA a portion of thctransverse horizontal tubes. '.lhc bar that holds the front end of thegrate is represented atA P. i The grate itself by .the letter R. .Thesteam may be discharged from any part of the steam-space as may be mostconvenient, Vand the force-pump may be attached lto the cold-inter orsupply pipe in the same manner. Y v

I do not conne myself to any particular size, length, or number oftubes, nor to anyparticular position for them to occupy, nor to anyparticular former shape of boiler, so long` as it is composed entirelybf tubes or pipes connected together in the manner I have described, orin any'manncr substantially the same, for I am aware that tubes may beconnected by screws Aas well as byiianges, and that the small interiorcirculation tubes may be attached and secured in other ways from thatwhich I hagedescrihed. ltylmethodv otcoustruction er forming the joints--and connections 1s the best-which 'occurs tome now; it inay be variedas experience -and practice may dictate. y

I do not broadly claim constructing steam "boilers or generatorsexclusively of tubes or pipes, nor do I broadly claim the use ofinterior circulation tubes, 'as I am aware that they arenot new; lbut,having thus described my invention, what I claim4 as new, and desire tosecure by LettersPateut, is

1. A steam generator or boiler, constructed entirely of tubes or pipes,when such' tubes or pipesare arranged and connected togther,andprotccterl from the direct' action of the fire, substantially in themanner herein described. A A i,

2. I claim the interior circula-tion tubes, here-m described, whenthesaid tubes are perforated in the manner anllsecured in their position inthe manner substantially as described, when used. in the vertical tubeof a boiler as and'for the purposes set forth. v Y y RICHARD J. 'NUNNWitnesses:

WILLIAM T. BLACK,

J. II'. Pensons.-

